Hammock Days

I finally got around to putting up our hammocks. What the heck took me so long?!? There is nothing like busting your hump and then relaxing in a hammock. Christy and I purchased these last year in El Salvador - $17 a piece.

Books in the queue: Bill McKibben's "Enough" and Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation"

Christy continues to plant more each day: Echinacea, Sunflowers, Chives, Marigolds, more potatoes, tomatoes, corn, black beans, okra, etc.

In addition to the hammocks, we finally started making some campfires. What a treat that is.

Applied for a private well with the health department.

It's colder than a...

The night before last, the temperature was down to 32° F and our air mattress had sprung a leak. Doesn't make for a restful sleep. This is definitely one of the low points about living in a tent long term.

Yesterday we met with the building inspector to discuss our cabin. We told him that we'd like to build it without having to do a septic system (required by code for any dwelling). He said that only way that could be done is to build a structure that doesn't exceed 150 square feet. So we decided that's what we'll do. It's a little smaller than we had hoped. But if we put in a loft and a decent sized porch we'll have adequate space.

We also finished putting up the deer fence yesterday. We can now relax a little about the deer; however, we still have to concern ourselves with rabbits and woodchucks which can dig under the fence. To address that we'll add chicken wire to the bottom of the fence and bend the bottom portion outward horizontally and cover it with dirt. Apparently the critters aren't smart enough to simply back up a couple of feet and start digging. At least I hope they're not.

Today we got a delivery of gravel for the driveway from a local quarry. We can finally park our cars there. With all the rain we've been getting the gravel is a must. With the cars now parked up the hill in the driveway, we decided to move our kitchen area up there as well.

Happy Birthday, Christy!

Christy was treated to two celebrations this weekend. Yesterday we went to a local winery/restaurant - Chateau Morrissette. Christy got to wear her purple dress with matching tights that I had gotten her for Christmas. It was nice to have a reason to get dressed up. The restaurant is located near the BRP with a beautiful view of the surrounding area. Christy had the Sauteed Crab Cake Salad and I had a trout dish. Of course we had to sample some of their wines. They were quite good. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and agreed to return.

Today, the Pugh clan arrived from Charlotte. Christy's parents, Jim and Linda, and sister, Nancy came up for the day to celebrate Christy's 34th. We all had lunch at a local cafe - Over the Moon Cafe. We hadn't seen Christy's family for six weeks so it was good to catch up. After lunch we gave everyone a tour of our home site and updated them on our progress.

Afterwards, we decided to have a tailgate party in the road since our driveway was too muddy for parking.

The Pugh clan in Floyd

Later that night, Christy and I went to a party in town where the hosts were celebrating the husband's birthday. It turns out that there were two other people there, not including Christy, whose birthday was also May 17.

Time

Christy and I are finding that we're getting a lot of reading in. I must have read 5 or 6 books in the last month. One of the books I'm reading now - "Siesta Lane" by Amy Minato - is about a woman who leaves the city to live in a "cabin, no running water, and a year living green". Mmm, sounds familiar for some reason. Anyway, I'm liking her writing and her experiences. She's provided me with some good quotes. About going to the woods: "Time stops long enough for thought and feeling to catch up." And then my favorite: "I am beckoned to renew a childhood connection with soil and sky that once offered me solace." This one resonates with me because I too had a childhood connection with the dirt. So often I'd leave my house in Ayer, MA to spend the day in a nearby field or the woods. Climbing trees, observing and catching insects, or just exploring. That's something I found myself doing no matter where I lived, be it New England or out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.



Sit. Relax. Read a book.

Today Christy and I took the day off and rode our bikes on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect ride. The weather was awesome and we had the road to ourselves. Some of the nice things about biking the BRP is that it's in great shape, there's little traffic, AND what little traffic there is is limited to 45 mph. It's a biker's dream. Having said that, the hills can be a killer. Most of the Parkway in this part of Virginia is at an elevation of over 2000 feet.

For dinner, we had a pasta salad with some of our newly harvested greens - kale, Osaka Purple, and Chard) - Yum!

And the fun begins!

Christy and I have been busy on preparing the garden beds and enclosing it with a 7.5' deer fence. Apparently the deer here are very aggressive towards gardens. We've decided on going with a circular enclosure instead of the standard square or rectangle. Given that the site slopes on three sides it made sense to deviate from the norm.



Working on the beans and cucumbers bed


Locust post for fencing

Digging with the post-hole digger and tamping dirt has aggravated my carpal tunnel syndrome. I find myself waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning with excruciating pain in my left wrist. I thought that leaving the high-tech world would have eliminated this condition - not! I had a similar experience after returning from a Habitat for Humanity trip to El Salvador. Apparently the act of tamping dirt is something my wrists don't like.

The Winter Wren nest near the tent was empty this morning. Yesterday there were 5 newly hatched chicks. This morning there was one dead chick at the entrance. I'm guessing either a raccoon or 0possum. I was just saying to Christy that we should start naming them. Oh, and speaking of wildlife: I forgot to mention that upon our return from New Hampshire we discovered bear activity at our site. We saw some tracks and our bird feeder was demolished. I'm hoping to get my first glimpse of one eventually.

Getting to use the chainsaw (Stihl 280) quite a bit. Mostly to cut the locust posts for fencing and also for fire wood.

"Dear Ricky"

After a much needed 10 day vacation to NH, Christy and I began settling back into our new life - and all that that entails. It was so good to see everyone - my daughters and our friends. We had a very active week and a half. Spending quality time with my girls and granddaughter, including a fun trip to Boston. An awesome 2 days in Portland with our friend Valerie. And then lots of visiting with other friends. I even got in some soccer with Marc and Anne's boys, Nicholas and Eli. Oh, and let's not forget that breakfast with Bruce and Liza at Intervale House of Pancakes.

The day after our return I woke up at 5 AM to a cacophony of birds. Surprisingly I was able to go back to sleep. Later in the morning I went to the post office to retrieve a registered letter. To my astonishment it was a reply letter from my biological father in Brazil. Through a former co-worker (the amazing Ruggero Dimedrano), I was able to find an address for the name "Milton Chester De Castro". I wrote a letter back in February in the hopes that it was my father. Well, after a ten year search my wait was over. Words cannot describe how happy I am to have gotten this letter. A letter that expressed regret for not having made contact with me sooner. and asking for my forgiveness. Mind you, the last time I saw my father I was about a year old living in Germany (Needless to say, I don't remember him.) Finally I can see what that side of my family looks like, learn some history, and more importantly - see him. He's 76 years old and is retired from the pharmaceutical industry. He has two other sons and five grandsons. I wrote him a lengthy letter in reply forgiving him and sharing what's been going on in my life the past 49 years. I'm still in shock as I type this. I found my father. He's alive, he wants my forgiveness, and he wants a dialog. I couldn't ask for any more. Well, perhaps two round trip tickets to Sao Paulo.

A Day in the Life

I'm a bit behind in updating the blog. I plan on back-dating a bunch of entries when I can allot a good chunk of time to spend at the local library.

Even though the post below is dated 4/23, it's being posted on June 1st. I plan on adding a bunch more entries to bring everyone up to date.
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Christy and I are in our 3rd week (presently 10th week as of 6/1) living in a tent. Lots of things going on and even more to do.


Some days and nights are better than others. Much, of course, depends on the weather. It's what I'm calling "real living". I'm thoroughly enjoying the temporary discomforts that come with the pleasures. The things that we've taken for granted now take on a new meaning: turning on a faucet has become fetching and boiling water; going to the bathroom now involves sitting on a sawdust toilet; taking a shower means sharing 2.5 gallons of water from a solar shower; bedtime is now when the sun sets.

A typical (or rather a composite average) day consists of:

• starting the tea kettle for our coffee and preparing breakfast - usually oatmeal, cereal, or eggs.
• washing dishes which entails heating a pot of water on our stove.
• working the newly exposed soil, i.e. pulling roots and rocks and amending with compost, boron, lime, chicken manure, etc.
• fetching water from a neighbor down the street in two 5 gallon bottles

Everything we do is labor intensive and so when we're ready for bed we're ready for bed. Sleep is spotty as we're getting used to sleeping outdoors. Lots of wind, rain, snapping of twigs nearby, owls, dogs in the distance, etc. But as the weeks go by we're getting more used to it.

Puravida

The past few days have had their highs and lows (literally and figuratively). We've made some good progress on setting up our living space but it's been hampered by extremely high winds and cold nights. Put up our mailbox, set up the kitchen area, set up our toilet facilities (more details to follow on this).

Some pics of where things stand:

Post-tree clearing

Our living quarters. It looked better

before the tarps went on.

Kitchen area in front and toilet facility in back.

And we're off!

Christy and I departed Charlotte this morning and arrived in Check, Virginia, in Floyd County, by mid-afternoon.

Although this blog is titled "Rick & Christy's Sustainability Adventure", the real adventure begins today. Everything leading up to this point has been in preparation for us living on this land. This is an attempt to live as sustainably as possible. And for the cynics out there - the qualifier is "as possible". When one talks about living sustainably, it's hopefully with the understanding that it's impossible to truly live that way. However, we can live with the intention to be more sustainable or to be more precise - minimize our impact on our environment.

By growing as much of our food, building with sustainable (there's that word again) materials, minimizing our consumption of fossil fuels, and minimizing our waste stream, we hope to achieve this concept of "treading lightly".

After unloading the majority of our belongings in a nearby storage unit we headed for the property where we pitched our tent before nightfall. It was a fairly cool, windy, and rainy day. And so it was quite fortuitous for us that our neighbors, Annie and David, invited us over for a bowl of hot soup. Their presence, as well as other neighbors - Ed, Randy, Ben, and Jay - will certainly be a big help in the coming years. Everyone has been so hospitable and friendly to Christy and me. We're very lucky to have found this community.

With the heavy wind and rain, Christy and I didn't get much sleep. But after a cup of fresh-brewed coffee (french press, of course) and bread with jam we were ready for our first full day.

April Ain't Nobody's Fool!

• A busy day today - our last full day in Charlotte. Christy and I, with the help of Jim, Linda, and Nancy, loaded up the rental truck in preparation for our much anticipated move to Floyd. We'll head out tomorrow morning. It was nice to be able to take our time and not rush, i.e. load the truck, drive 3 hours, and unload. Splitting it up over two days makes for a less harried move.


• One of the many things I'm looking forward to is "setting down some roots". In all of my 50 years, I can't recall living in a single house for more that 4 years - as a child or an adult. I'm ready, so very ready. I want to be a part of a community. A community that's been cultivated over many years. I'm ready, so very ready.
  
• I pulled two April Fools' jokes today. One on my daughter Lindsey: I told her that her younger sister, Lauren (who is providing daycare for Lindsey's daughter in lieu of rent and also working part-time), called me this morning to say that she's moving in with her boyfriend and wouldn't be able to watch Lindsey's daughter anymore. I told her that Lauren didn't want to call Lindsey herself because Lindsey would be too upset. Well, it worked so well that Lindsey started crying because she didn't know who would watch her daughter - my granddaughter. I know, such a mean dad. I really hadn't intended it to go that far. I was just hoping for a "Oh my God! Are serious?!?" Sorry, Lindsey! I know you'll get me back - you always do.
  
• The second one was on my brother Adrian: I told him that our dad said that he's leaving Las Vegas (reminds me of Sheryl Crow, for some reason) and is hoping to rent my brother's second house that has just became vacant. Well, he fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Enough so that he called our dad to inquire. He had a few choice words for me once he realized he'd been had.
  
• Christy and I took her sister, Nancy, out for a festive night of sushi. It was our way of showing appreciation for allowing us to live with her these past few months. It was actually quite enjoyable. We all had a lot of fun.
  
• Well folks! This will be my last post from the lovely state of North Carolina - while living here, that is. There are some good cafes in Asheville, you know. Oh, and of course our families are here as well. So, we'll be back often. However, the next post will come from a cafe somewhere near home in Virginia - I like the sound of that - HOME.